


Avengers U: Social Media 101 and the Real Steve Rogers

by the_crown_jules



Series: Avengers U [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Banter, Domestic Avengers, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, Humor, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Seduction by Philanthropy, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers is a Troll, Steve Rogers is a little shit, Steve Rogers: man on a mission, Stony - Freeform, Tony Stark has Captain America Issues, Tony cannot even, america's ass, boudoir photos, don't feed the trolls, thirst traps, tumblr friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_crown_jules/pseuds/the_crown_jules
Summary: This time in Avengers U: how Steve's approach evolves from "relentless troll" to "planned seduction," with some help from his new friends on the internet.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Avengers U [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162877
Comments: 5
Kudos: 69





	Avengers U: Social Media 101 and the Real Steve Rogers

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 of at least a few in the Avengers U series. This was not originally *planned* to be a series, so there are some changes to Part 1 to make it internally consistent with this, which has an overlapping timeline, and to slow the pace. If some of your favorite lines in part 1 have changed, don't worry — you might see them later.
> 
> Still just casual fun, no beta, trying not to overthink (ha) although I’m not quite happy with the flow so I’ll probably fuss with it. I do not own these characters.
> 
> Thanks to the lovely readers who commented on part 1 and gave me the encouragement to lean all the way in to Steve as a Troll.

There wasn't much that Sam and Tony agreed on, but they presented a unified front in Steve's first Social Media 101 lesson: don't feed the trolls. Trolls, Steve had been informed, no longer lurked under bridges waiting to cause trouble but rather lurked in online comments. Steve initially scoffed — why would he ever feel compelled to respond to total strangers causing trouble on the internet? Within 24 hours, Sam had confiscated his phone and their second lesson in Social Media 101 was about reporting mechanisms (insufficient) for inappropriate behavior, and what was considered inappropriate behavior (overly generous). Lesson 3, somewhat impromptu, was why it was illegal to use JARVIS to track down internet users and confront them in person, although Steve thought that the 20-year-old punk who had opened his door to find Captain America and the Iron Legion standing there would probably be making some changes to his online behavior.

Tony, apparently not consulted in the curriculum for lesson 3 due to him being a "chronic enabler of bad behavior", was chastised for providing Steve with transportation and, well, JARVIS. Tony just pulled up the video that the Iron Legion had taken of the kid's mortified face and laughed his ass off while Sam tried not to join in.

Once Steve's gut response to fight any and all bullies immediately had calmed down a bit, he was faced with dealing with another type of perplexing online behavior: flirting from strangers. His gut response to this was much murkier. The outright harassment or anything that was threatening he ignored or reported, but there was kind of a background simmer of appreciation that he, formerly reedy and ill Steve Rogers, still didn't really understand. Sometimes literally.

"Why are so many people telling me they're thirsty? What do they expect me to do about it? Is there an issue with water access in America?"

"Well, yes, but that's not what this is about," said Tony with a grin. "It just means they think you're hot. So I assume you're hearing that from everyone on the Internet."

Steve felt his cheeks heat slightly, and Tony noticed. Something playful and calculating rose in his eyes that Steve knew meant Tony had identified some new buttons he wanted to push to see what happened. Nothing strictly good ever followed that look.

"I think I remember seeing at least one fan group dedicated to appreciation of that body," he gestured to encompass the breadth of Steve and gave him a friendly leer, "in the stealth suit?"

"Flirting with your students isn't appropriate, Tony," Sam added in his I-am-duty-bound-to-say-this-even-though-it's-pointless voice.

Ah. Even though Tony was getting to know him better, Steve knew that Tony still had an idea of him as a stern, blushing paragon of virtue. Tony assumed the online, er, _thirsting_ , made Steve uncomfortable. Whether it did or didn't was now immaterial. Tony was one of those trolls he shouldn't feed. Well. Tony had miscalculated.

"Oh it's fine, Sam, he was just being honest. I saw a group like that too. It's really nice people are appreciating the suit so much, Tony, you worked so hard on getting the fit just right for me."

Tony stared at him. Steve smiled placidly back, without a hint on his face of the giant shit-eating grin he was sporting in his mind.

"Alright thanks guys," Steve said. "I know I could just check the urban encyclopedia, but sometimes it's faster to ask."

"Dictionary," he heard Tony whisper as Steve walked out of the room, putting a little more swagger in his stride than he usually would, knowing that Tony was watching.

Tony was a genius, but it would take him awhile to test out whatever hypotheses he was generating right now. If he even got that far. After all, his Captain America issues were practically visible from space. In the meantime, Steve was going to have such a good time. When he got back to his room, he pulled out a notebook and started a new entry: _How to Introduce Tony Stark to the Real Steve Rogers_. The real Steve Rogers being, of course, a complete troll.

**1\. Challenge assumptions**

When Steve himself joined the stealth suit appreciation group it seemed to cause a minor collective spasm, but he was soon warmly welcomed by the strangers whose thirst was ultimately matched by their kindness. Of course, his contributions weren't really in the spirit of the thing — rather than appreciating his own body in the stealth suit, he lauded the stealth suit itself, and shared links to Stark Industries' Materials Science division and their various charitable endeavors providing safety supplies to noncombatants in war-torn regions. He was pretty sure SI web traffic to those pages was way up. The group indulged this good-naturedly and, it turned out, generously.

"Steve," Tony said from a distance as he approached the kitchen where Steve was finishing breakfast. Steve had noticed that Tony's feet couldn't keep up with his brain and he had a tendency to start talking whenever he was remotely within earshot, rather than once he had entered the room. "Did you have something to do with the sizeable internship scholarship just endowed to Stark Industries for first generation Materials Science majors?"

Steve felt the blush rising and tamped down the embarrassment at being called out, which felt automatic even for things he was proud of. Besides. A test of his trolling resolve was upon him. So Steve just blinked confusedly from over his large mug of completely unnecessary coffee. "....not as far as I know? What makes you think that?"

"Because it was donated by... Does a Tumblr community called _America's Ass_ ring a bell? It should because you are....an active member? _ON TUMBLR, which you apparently use,_ I guess I'll emphasize?"

Steve's face brightened with a brilliant smile.

"Oh yeah! Good folks. A bit over the top sometimes, but they've got a lot of interest in the stealth suit and the SI materials science programs. Great of them to set something up!" He said this with all of the guilelessness and enthusiasm of someone who had in no way set up or contributed to that GoFundMe, no sir, not at all. He was counting on Tony not to dig deeper than he had, which was maybe a gamble, but worth the risk.

He seemed to have shorted out Tony's brain, he thought, as the man in question stared at him a bit slack-jawed. It was a deeply proud moment.

"Um." said Tony after a few moments. "I'm pretty sure their interest is still not in the SI materials science programs, but okay, that's very generous of them." Without seeming to realize what he was doing, Tony picked up a Pop Tart off Steve's mostly finished plate of breakfast and took a contemplative bite. "Just be careful what you say yes to on the internet, okay? It's not all sunshine and, uh, ass appreciators."

"Of _course_ Tony," Steve said, standing and putting a placating hand on his shoulder. He let this bring them closer than was strictly necessary and gazed into Tony's eyes, also longer than was strictly necessary.

Tony looked a little caught in the headlights so Steve stepped back before casually adding, "There is someone who says they're looking for art models, though, thought I might help them out." Tony choked on the pop tart.

***

Tony was on the basketball court when Steve hit the indoor track. It was cold in New York in the winter and even if his serum made him impervious it still made his brain crawl. Once Tony had realized this about Steve, he'd converted an entire floor to a track with a court in the middle, just as he had converted two other floors to a dynamic range for Clint, and for Bucky if he ever came back. Steve shook out his shoulders at the feeling of being overwhelmed, as he sometimes was, by the thoughtfulness and almost automatic generosity underneath Tony's showboat exterior. And then he kicked up the pace.

Tony's movements were relaxed as he jogged up and down the court, making probably two out of every three shots, mind probably racing ahead elsewhere, but he soon let Steve know he had noticed him come onto the floor.

"Love this new shade of body paint for you, Rogers," he called. "Really brings out your everything."

"Oh come on, Tony," Steve called back. "You know it's a shirt."

"The twelve abs I can see say you're wrong," Tony replied, and Steve jogged backwards so he could face Tony where he stood on the court, now still and panting lightly, basketball on his hip. He had a softer edge to his swagger in these private moments that pulled on Steve. But he was on a mission.

Steve grinned and pulled the hem of his shirt up as he jogged, stride unbroken, showcasing an appealing expanse of skin. "My sixteen abs say I'm right."

"No one has sixteen abs," Tony squawked.

"No one has twelve, either," Steve quipped, pulling his shirt back down and speeding up his steps. "Thought you were a scientist, Tony!"

He thought he heard Tony mutter something about _damn cocky super soldier_ as he turned away and immediately missed a three-pointer.

***

The pantheon of nicknames Tony used for Steve had expanded to include "Captain Crunches", "America's Abs", "American Eagle", and "Old Spice." These last two apparently had to do with advertising. Steve made sure to thank Tony for all of these nice compliments.

***

Tony seemed to be completely torn between a sense of responsibility to protect Steve from the ills of the world he (behaved as if he) didn't understand and the outrageous commentary he was prone to about people he found attractive. Who were attractive? Did Tony specifically find Steve attractive or was he just an easy target because he was, objectively, attractive? Did it matter? It didn't matter. Right?

This kept Steve on his toes in a way he enjoyed, maybe in ways that felt a little different than when he and Bucky had pulled pranks on each other. It probably just felt different because he was still getting to know Tony, and he knew Bucky like his own mind. Or, at least, he had. Steve felt a pang at the thought of his recovering friend, off the grid somewhere and sorting himself out in his own way, insistent on time and space. _This would be even more fun with Bucky here_ , he thought for a moment, and then felt a flare of something else, complex and hot, as he realized he didn't think that was true. This was between him and Tony. Whatever _this_ was.

His reverie was interrupted by Tony's noisy arrival in the foyer of the Tower, where Steve had lagged behind to wait for him. The rest of the team had gone on ahead to the publicity event of the day while Tony frantically pressed pause on his projects in the lab. Tony shifting from mechanic to Stark was always kind of fascinating to behold, and he was mid-shift as he blew in to Steve's space, tie undone, pea coat half on, scarf draped over a shoulder. His cheeks were a little flushed and his hair was tousled in a way that looked artful but that Steve knew came from pushing it out of the way while he worked. His hands twitched at the urge to reach out and grab the lapels of that coat and pull Tony to him and...

"There you are, Tony," Steve said jovially, and then added in a tone that was just a step back from innocent, "I was starting to think you were waiting for me to tell you to come."

Tony dropped a glove.

He kind of couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Or how he wanted to think about it in more detail later. Steve was starting to suspect he had an idea what this was.

***

He wasn't the only one. As they stood in the cold at the ribbon cutting for the youth center, Nat leaned over and whispered, "I know what you're doing."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Steve said out of the corner of his mouth. Nat ignored this, which was no more than he deserved.

"It's got a _how would Thor respond but make it gay vibe_ that I'm really enjoying," she whispered, managing to sound both considering and teasing.

Steve elbowed her lightly. "Nothing gets past you," he mumbled, heart racing a little both from being called out and from her tacit acceptance of who he was...and what he was up to. Although she was always on board for bringing Tony down a few pegs.

"And don't you forget it," she said, before returning her attention to the press.

***

Steve wasn't totally sure (really, he wasn't, there was no glaringly obvious 100% reason) why he felt the need to escalate whatever game he was playing with Tony. Up to this point he had largely been reactive, responding to what Tony said first, or just using convenient situations to his advantage. It was more about not allowing Tony the satisfaction of successfully pushing his buttons than intentionally trying to push Tony's.

And yet. Two days and a JARVIS-assisted photo shoot later, Steve found Tony in the kitchen when he was filling his 24oz coffee thermos with brew he insisted was somehow better than the coffee in the lab.

"Hey Tony, can I ask your advice about something for the internet?"

"Sure peaches, what can I do you for?"

Steve grinned at him. "That's a new one, why am I peaches?"

"Well the peach emoji symbolizes an ass. In this case, yours." That button-poking look was back in Tony's eye. Steve figured he could go another round of this game before he upped the ante, especially if it was going to present itself so easily.

"Oh!" Steve laughed easily, then turned so his back (and ass) were facing Tony. His clingy gym shorts highlighted his ass(et) nicely and he thanked his luck as he looked over his shoulder to address Tony. "Is it because I have a nice ass?"

Tony's eyes narrowed and Steve wondered if he had overplayed his hand at this point. But after a moment, "....Yes," Tony replied slowly.

"Thanks Tony, I think it's one of my best features too. Peaches it is." He flexed his cheeks slightly and heard Tony make the faintest sound like someone had stepped on him. He decided to show some mercy. For a few seconds. He faced Tony again and launched eagerly into his spiel, ignoring the heated pink on the tops of Tony's ears and the cute sort of sleepy rumpled way he looked after an early start in his workshop.

"I thought it was kind of nice how appreciative everyone is of me on the internet. Of course, I'd rather they focus a little less on how I look and more on my leadership, or the good things the Avengers do, but — I have been reading about celebrities who use their platform to draw attention to good causes and I thought that is something I'd like to do. Be more _involved_ with things like the Material Science scholarship, you know? And since my fan base likes how I look, it seemed like maybe it might be effective to use something called-" he glanced down at his phone like he was looking up the term, "thirst traps?"

"I thought we already talked about the risks of making your profile picture, um, ab-tastic," Tony said drily.

"Sure," said Steve, "but that was assuming that I didn't _want_ that kind of attention. Now that I know it could be for a good cause, why not? But I know I'm still new to this so I need your advice. What do you think?" And he held out his phone, letting the hammer drop.

Tony reached for the device automatically, looked down at the screen, and did a visible double take. From the screen in his hand, Steve knew that his own face looked back from the black and white photo, eyes smoldering, hair mussed, his lower lip caught slightly in his teeth. He was wearing low-slung jeans and a white ribbed undershirt that managed to cling to the outlines of his abs. The muscles in his arms bulged, and one of his hands was tucked slightly under the waistband of the jeans, baring a sliver of skin. It was honestly some of his best work.

Tony's thermos slipped out of his hand, and they both jumped at the clatter as coffee went everywhere.

" _Jesus,_ Steve, warn a guy will you?" Tony had grabbed some paper towel and was dabbing haphazardly at his coffee-spattered jeans.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry Tony, did you burn yourself at all?" Steve started forward but jumped back as one of their mopping roombas careened around the corner and got to work.

"I think your smolder burned me," he heard Tony mutter over the whir of the small robot.

"So, uh, do you think it would get some attention?" Steve asked, gesturing at the photo.

"I think it would break the internet," said Tony vehemently.

Steve couldn't help it, even though he knew it was pushing the bounds of the innocence act to breaking. "Well if that's the goal I took some other photos too..."

Tony's eyebrows had raised so high he risked looking surprised forever.

"I wasn't planning to cover dick pics until Dating Apps 101."

Steve snorted. "It's safe for work, Tony."

"I can't tell you how weird it is to hear Captain America saying 'safe for work'," Tony said with a sigh, shaking his head.

Steve frowned. "Probably because you're hearing Steve Rogers say it."

Tony brushed this off. "Oh come off it, Cap, you're one and the same."

Something in Steve bristled at the insistence, even after all this, their growing friendship and flirting banter, that he was just the role he played. Did Tony really have no idea at _all_ that Steve had been messing with him? Steve was so much more than the uniform, and it wasn't ego to say so. So much more complex, conflicted, nuanced, funny, full of his own opinions and needs and _wants_ , than Tony seemed determined to let him be. It suddenly felt of paramount importance, not just a game, that Tony understand this.

 _Fine_. He leaned forward, closing the distance partly between his body and Tony's, and swiped the screen to the left. The next photo in the series had his undershirt off and slung over a shoulder, highlighted in the triangle made by his arm where it rested languidly behind his head. The top button of his jeans was undone in this one, and a light dusting of hair disappeared tantalizingly beneath them. His mouth was open slightly and his gaze as languid as his pose. Blissed out. Fucked out.

"Tell me again how Steve Rogers isn't his own man," he said in a voice dark with the heat and frustration coursing through him.

Tony looked up and seemed startled at how close he was. A series of emotions flickered through Tony's eyes, too fast to interpret, but Steve could tell he had certainly given him something to think about. Steve held his gaze steadily, the feeling of heat in his body shifting and pooling low at Tony's proximity.

And then the moment broke.

"I think with this photo you could be any gal's man you wanted to," Tony said with a laugh (was it slightly shaky?).

"Or guy's," Steve said without thinking — and froze.

Tony's mouth fell open open in momentary shock, but he quickly took the unexpected moment in stride, although his eyes were a storm. "Or guy's," he said easily, and Steve let his breath out in relief. It wasn't like he was _hiding_ his sexuality, or like he thought Tony wouldn't accept him, but he hadn't planned to just drop it in like that. It was going to be a bigger shift in Tony's perception of _Captain America_ than he had necessarily meant to instigate. This moment had gotten away from him. All of this had gotten away from him.

Steve took his phone and pulled away, feeling suddenly embarrassed at how much he had bared (literally and then emotionally) in pursuit of, what, pulling one over on Tony? Getting the win in a game clearly only he knew they were playing?

"Guess I'll save that for Dating Apps 101 then," he said with a small smile. And he fled.

He didn't know who had even come out on top in that exchange, but he did know he had to stop kidding himself. This had stopped being a casual contest of wills weeks ago, if it had ever been that to begin with. He updated the heading of his list: _~~How to Introduce Tony Stark to the Real Steve Rogers~~_ **How to Seduce Tony Stark**

**Author's Note:**

> Next up (and might be awhile, because it's just an outline right now) -- Steve puts his plans in action, with some help from good bros Natasha and Bruce (whose class turns out to be more interesting than advertised).
> 
> I don't know how Tumblr works well enough to know if there would genuinely be a community Steve could join (eep) but I just didn't want to put him on the book of faces lol.


End file.
